Launching a tirade against soaring prices, hundreds of women activists, under the banner of the National Women Brigade, assembled at Patna Railway Junction early on Thursday and paralysed train movement for nearly four hours.

Railway sources said that women carrying bamboo sticks, swords and daggers squatted on the railway tracks and virtually took over the entire Patna Junction, paralysing movement of several passenger and express trains.

The sources admitted that the administration found it difficult to handle the women, who appeared suddenly at the Junction at approximately 5 am.

Divided into several groups, a group of women brigade stopped the moving Farakka Express at Sachiwalay halt at around 5.45 am and forcibly entered the train's engine cabin and halted the train.

All trains scheduled from anytime after 5 am have been stalled.

It was only after intervention by the local police and administration that the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway police personnel that the agitators could be removed and train services resumed at 9.40 am.

The movement of all trains had been affected due to the agitation and they were running more than four hours behind schedule.

There was a similar situation at Nalanda and some other districts, where agitating women disrupted train services today morning. Even requests from passengers fell on deaf ears.